Freddy in Middle Earth

The line between the genres fantasy and Horror is a porous one, one so insubstantial at times that it is impossible to determine where one ends and the other begins. The same is true with Science Fiction. Is ALIEN a Horror flick or a Sci-Fi flick? It is both, of course. Is STAR WARS a Fantasy or a Science Fiction film? Both. Is PAN’S LABYRINTH Fantasy or Horror? You see where I’m going. (REIGN OF FIRE manages to fit into all three genres at the same time!) I am a devotee of J.R.R. Tolkien, and of Peter Jackson’s LORD OF THE RINGS and THE HOBBIT films. These are Fantasy, “High fantasy” if you want to get technical about it, yet the Orcs, the Wargs, Shelob and Smaug would all be right at home in a Horror movie.

Astute fans know that New Line Cinemas is sometimes called “the studio that Freddy built” because its success came from the NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movies. But even I didn’t know that Peter Jackson had made an unsuccessful pitch to write and direct a NIGHTMARE sequel. Makes sense, since Pete cut his teeth as a Horror guy. They didn’t go with him, obviously, but he made a favorable enough impression on New LIne that when he brought the pitch for the LOTR movies to them, they bit. And the rest is Hollywood history.